Faris Shuleih Alshammari¹ and Eman Salameh Alzoghbieh²

¹Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, University of Saint Augustine for Health Sciences, San Marcos, CA, USA
²School of Natural Sciences and Human Ecology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA

*Corresponding Author: Eman Salameh Alzoghbieh, School of Natural Sciences and Human Ecology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA.

Received: December 27, 2022; Published: January 25, 2023

Abstract

Background: Upper Cross Syndrome (UCS) is a major postural disorder. Postural muscles changes can be related to sustained prolonged poor posture. As time spent on handheld smart devices (TSSD) is increasing yearly, there is a necessity to study its effects on body posture. Limited literature was found on the effect of TSSD on body posture.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the prevalence of muscular changes associated with UCS and the TSSD among university students in Jordan.

Methods: Two hundred participants were recruited for this study. After obtaining the informed consents, Participants filled a survey and underwent standardized measures including head position measures, Manual Muscles Testing (MMT) and Muscles Length Test. Survey included multiple factors that can be related to postural changes.

Results: There was association between the prevalence of the muscular changes associated with UCS and time spent on the use of handheld smart devices where 8.7% of students who used handheld smart devices for less than one hour a day developed factors that lead to UCS. Marked increase on the prevalence of the muscular changes associated with UCS to be 70.4% among the students who used the handheld smart devices from one hour to three hours a day. The prevalence of the muscular changes associated with UCS was the highest among the students who used the handheld smart devices for more than 3 hours to be 89.1%.

Conclusion: Limiting time spent on handheld smart devices to one hour daily can be helpful in maintaining healthy body posture and physical well-being.

Clinical Implications: Physical therapists can use the findings of this study to educate their patients who suffer from upper quarter muscles dysfunction on the importance of controlling the time spent on handheld smart devices.

Keywords: Body Posture; Handheld smart Devices; Upper Cross Syndrome; Upper Quarter; Time

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Citation

Citation: Faris Shuleih Alshammari and Eman Salameh Alzoghbieh. “Handheld Smart Devices Effects on Postural Muscles Related to Upper Cross Syndrome”.Acta Scientific Orthopaedics 6.2 (2023): 61-66.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Faris Shuleih Alshammari and Eman Salameh Alzoghbieh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.